Ethylene oxide is an important industrial chemical used as a feedstock for making such chemicals as ethylene glycol, ethylene glycol ethers, alkanol amines and detergents. One method of manufacturing ethylene oxide is by the catalyzed partial oxidation of ethylene with oxygen. There are continuing efforts to develop catalysts that can improve the operating efficiency of such ethylene oxide manufacturing processes. Some of the desirable properties of an ethylene oxide catalyst include good selectivity, good activity, and long catalyst life.
It is, thus, an object of this invention to provide a catalyst that has certain desirable catalytic properties that make it particularly suitable for use in the manufacture of ethylene oxide.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method of making a catalyst that exhibits at least some of the aforementioned desirable catalytic properties.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide an economically efficient process for manufacturing ethylene oxide by utilizing a catalyst having certain desirable catalytic properties.
Other aspects, objects and the several advantages of the invention will become more apparent in light of the following disclosure.